I've followed your series here and have enjoyed it very much. Funny that you mention names that use to be very familiar to me. Especially Radar. If memory is still there, he worked with Gary Ostrich and Charlie Malyuke back in the early 70's on the Force engines, and others. I remember not being able to go into Gary's shop in Nevada on account of Chrysler and their secret work being done there. Even saw set of Westlake heads for a 340 one day, as they were using them as a guide on some LA heads that they were working on for mother Mopar. Then the gas shortages, insurance price hikes and all took place not to mention emissions regulations killed performance for awhile. A bad time.
Oh yes, I grew up in the Waterloo area. My 67 GTX had kind of a reputation for being a 396 Camaro killer. It was a fun time.